ASHPORT, TN (WMC-TV) - Lauderdale County residents are praying that an elderly man that recently went missing will be safely located.

LeeAnna Hayes spent Tuesday fishing along Highway 19 in the Ashport Community, close to where 80-year-old Luther Wayne Bagby disappeared last week.

"I hate that," Hayes said. "I wish it had never happened."

Tuesday, search crews battled rough waters as they continued to look for Bagby.

"It's pretty dangerous especially if you don't know how to swim," Hayes said. "Sometimes these currents gets so rough out here in this water, and you just can't afford to go through the water."

Authorities have already located Bagby's car, and pulled it from floodwaters along Highway 19. Investigators say before Bagby vanished he got out of his car, grabbed his keys and walking cane, and then dialed 911. That was the last time anyone heard from him.

Hayes called it a reminder of how dangerous the floodwaters really are.

"Be careful," she said. "See what you're going through first before you go through that, because sometimes the water is a whole lot different than what they think."

As search crews continue to look for any sign of Bagby, Hayes remained hopeful that he'll soon be located.

"I just hope they find him," she said. "My prayers are with the family."

So far, emergency management officials are blaming the early flooding on snow melt from the winter.

It sounds just like the plot line of a television show- a woman naked and afraid, lost in remote woods. But Lisa Theris’ journey back to civilization was real life and a real struggle that lasted a month in Bullock County.

It sounds just like the plot line of a television show- a woman naked and afraid, lost in remote woods. But Lisa Theris’ journey back to civilization was real life and a real struggle that lasted a month in Bullock County.